The EuroWhat? Podcast: Eurovision News & Reviews

Tel Aviv will be hosting Eurovision in 2019! I mean, we pretty much knew that, but now it's official!

On this episode of the Eurowhat Podcast, we check in with the venues around Tel Aviv that will be hosting the big events in May. Will the Tel Aviv Convention Center be big enough to hold the Eurovision fandom? How is the green room supposed to work? And are hotels already busting budgets for fans?

In case Tel Aviv doesn't work out as an option, details about Eurovision in Concert in Amsterdam have been revealed. Speaking of the Netherlands, we have the final recap of Glennis Grace's journey on America's Got Talent. Did she triumph through adversity, despite having to perform with Bebe Rexha?

Finland's UMK, Sweden's Melfest, and Iceland's Söngvakeppnin have been added to the calendar, while Ireland's songwriters have been murmuring about a possible boycott. We don't talk about Junior Eurovision—there's too much to discuss with the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships instead. Oh! And Ralph Siegel's birthday is coming up! Happy birthday, buddy!

So much to celebrate in this episode—download and join the fun!

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We know the Eurovision Song Contest will be in Israel((Maybe Tel Aviv, maybe Jerusalem)) in May, so now is the perfect time to start planning your vacation!

First, Mike and Ben go over some of the news items from the last couple weeks. Will there be boycotts of the 2019 Contest? Denmark doesn't think so, while Estonia and Spain are full speed ahead on their Eurovision plans. America's Got Sweden's rig from this year's Melfest while Madame Monsieur met their song's namesake. Also: ninjas. VIP ninjas.

After playing catchup, we offer our advice on how to make your way across the pond to attend next year's Eurovision. Do you have your passport yet? How can you get to Europe/Israel and back on the cheap? Where should I stay? HOW DO I PAY FOR THIS?!

Don't panic. Place your carryon in the overhead bin and listen to this week's episode of the EuroWhat to get a head start on your European vacation.

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Israel has had a fascinating history at the Eurovision Song Contest. Now that they will be hosting the 2019 edition, we've invited Noam Roth from EuroFreak to talk about his country's participation.

Now that the budget kerfuffle is behind us and Israel's broadcaster has paid its deposit to the EBU, we can officially start talking about the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest! Noam Roth—who reached out to us on our Facebook page—joins us this week to be a tour guide through Israel's 45 years of participation at Eurovision.

Along with the past, we look toward the future in terms of evaluating possible host cities Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Eilat. Will the chart-topping success of Netta's "Toy" bring a new sound to the 2019 Contest? And will the tweaks made to Israel's selection format for next year's artist and song continue the hot streak the country has experienced?

Special Guest: Noam Roth.

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We gave a computer more than 300 Eurovision Song Contest entries from the last decade and this is what it gave us. Songwriting might not be so hard after all.

The EuroWhat is back after a surprise hiatus with a jam-packed episode. First, Ben and Mike catch up on a month of random Eurovision sightings. Starbucks? NBC's daytime and nighttime schedule? Johnny Weir's Instagram? Yes, yes, and yaaaaaaaaaas. Have you encountered any Eurovision in the Wild? Let us know! Have a better name than "Eurovision in the Wild"? DEFINITELY let us know.

Then we switch gears to talk about the concept of songwriting. Britcoms have previously tackled this topic, specifically Father Ted's series two episode "A Song for Europe." Surely we could write a song better than "My Lovely Horse," right? I mean, we have just as much musical and songwriting talent as Dougal and Ted...

Nah, let's just have a computer take care of it. In our two-step process (songwriting may not have more than two steps, after all), we compiled the lyrics of more than 300 Eurovision entries and gave them to a bot to develop a predictive keyboard. We were hoping that the bot would spit out next year's winning entry, but the technology isn't quite there yet. But if you are looking for a song title generator, we've got you covered.

Plug in your headphones and enjoy this week's episode of AI's Got Talent?

Support The EuroWhat? Podcast: Eurovision News & Reviews

Is there anything more EuroWhat? than the World Cup? How about World Cup songs performed by Eurovision Song Contest alumni? Yeah, that oughta do it...

This week, Ben and Mike take a listen to a handful of songs from 2018 that were created for the sole purpose of cashing in celebrating the quadrennial soccer futbol extravaganza that is the FIFA World Cup. Did you know that there is an official World Cup anthem as well as an official song? AND an official Coca-Cola song?

The music doesn't stop there. Countries that weren't even in the tournament added tracks to the playlist, with Eurovision alumni from Malta and Azerbaijan leading the charge. Host country Russia brought back their famous Grannies as well as the stellar voice of Polina Gagarina. Iceland's last act to qualify for a Eurovision final—2014's Pollapönk—rocks out to celebrate their homeland qualifying for the tournament for the first time. And a remix from one of 1979's most famous acts also promotes Moscow.

There's controversy, international intrigue, and a whole lotta flopping in this installment of the EuroWhat? podcast!((Oh, and congrats, France. We recorded this well before the Final.))

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Happy 4th of July! In honor of America's birthday, special guest Maura Johnston joins us to discuss the prospect of the US competing at Eurovision. Could we? Should we? If we somehow got an invite, who should represent whatever our sound is?

After introducing our guest, we catch up on some listener feedback and check in with Israel's status as Eurovision 2019 host. We also start filling out our dream cast for Will Ferrell's potential Eurovision project for Netflix.

For our main topic, we go over all the criteria to be a fully eligible member of the EBU and Eurovision festivities. Even though the US will never meet the current eligibility requirements, we speculate on who could possibly fly the flag at Eurovision. Is American pop in 2018 too egocentric? Are there any stars who are big enough (but not too big) to compete? And just how many failed talent shows have we watched over the last two decades?((A lot... like... a lot a lot.))

Will there be fireworks in this debate? Download this week's episode!

Special Guest: Maura Johnston.

Support The EuroWhat? Podcast: Eurovision News & Reviews

What if the Eurovision Song Contest were a secret plot to take over the world by forcing people to exercise daily to the winning song? On this week's episode, Ben, Mike, and special guest Josh Hehner explore this dystopia(?) in the 1980 film The Apple.

To celebrate his recent birthday, Ben took in a midnight screening of the 1980 not-quite-a-cult classic The Apple. In this movie, a Eurovision-like song contest is the starting point of an Adam-and-Eve-like story involving hippies, bedazzled beards, lyrics lacking subtlety, and a literal deus ex machina. If this sounds baffling, we invited fellow The Apple superfan Josh Hehner to help with bringing some sense to whatever the heck is going on.

Along with talking about the movie, we check in with what really happened in the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest, which the movie got sorta right? We discuss the practicality of National BIM Hour, surgery scheduling strategy, and how the movie might have predicted OrangeTheory. Finally, we make our picks for which songs from the soundtrack could make viable Eurovision entries and pour one out for the late, great Donna Summer.

Find your shiniest lamé outfit and add this week's EuroWhat to your exercise playlist.

The EuroWhat? Podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts. Find your podcast app to subscribe here.

Comments, questions, and episode topic suggestions are always welcome. You can shoot us an email or reach out on Bluesky @eurowhat.bsky.social.

If you would like to help financially support the show, we are hosting the EuroWhat AV Club over on Patreon! We have a slew of bonus episodes with deep dives on Eurovision-adjacent topics.

Special Guest: Josh Hehner.

Support The EuroWhat? Podcast: Eurovision News & Reviews

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Happy pride! The Eurovision off season can be a drag, so let's talk about drag at Eurovision!

First up, we check in with how Eurovision 2019 prep is going. Short version: it's been three weeks; cool yer beans. There have been a couple of Eurovision sightings in the US, including "Toy" in Times Square and San Marino(?) on the Billboard Charts(????).

As for the main topic, Ben and Mike take a tour of Eurovision's surprisingly brief drag history. Are there really only five entries? And where are the drag kings and other ways to play with gender? Join us as we spill allllll the tea.

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The gang is back together to discuss the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final. Our special guest Dave Steeves shares his experience as an audience member in Lisbon and we all weigh in on the dubious honor of the Barbara Dex award.

This week we finally check in on the Grand Final results, including Austria's surprise jury win and the awkwardness of Israel's overall win. We look at the semi-final results and which countries just missed qualifying and which countries barely made it to Saturday's show. There were some surprise entries up for consideration for the Barbara Dex fashion faux pas award, but the right country... won? Mike and our guest Dave Steeves also share stories of what it was like in the arena during the semi-finals and the jury final before sharing summer plans for the podcast.

Special Guest: Dave Steeves.

Support The EuroWhat? Podcast: Eurovision News & Reviews

The Grand Final of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest takes place Saturday, May 12. That means this is our last chance for wild speculation. We break down what happened at the semi-finals before sharing our hopes and dreams for which countries we want to win.

This week we welcome Barbara Sawhill to the panel to chat about what happened in Tuesday and Thursday's live shows. We discuss just how wrong we were about our semi-final one predictions, particularly why some power house countries failed to advance. Although we did much better predicting the second semi-final, there were still some surprises Thursday.((Including Mike's audio failing to record, so he's sitting out this week.))

Twenty-six countries are left. Who's going to win? It's the most exciting episode of the year as we head toward one of the most exciting Eurovision Grand Final competitions in years.

Special Guest: Barbara Sawhill.

Support The EuroWhat? Podcast: Eurovision News & Reviews